380 EXISTING TREES AND SHRUBS OF EPPING FOREST.
Cytisus scoparius, Link. Broom.
According to Warner, "very common." Twenty years ago,
however, it was to be found in very few spots ; but now it is
spreading fast and covers the sides of many deserted gravel pits.
Probably the gipsies were responsible for its former disappearance.
Ononis spinosa, L. Rest-harrow.
May be looked for in most places where the needle-furze is
found. There is a large quantity behind Paul's Nursery at
Loughton.
Prunus spinosa, L. Blackthorn, Sloe.
Everywhere, especially in the thickets of the Ching Valley.
It seldom fruits in the forest.
Prunus insititia, L. Bullace.
In the Ching Valley and in the thicket between Manor Road,
Loughton, and the Buckhurst Hill cricket ground. I have not
looked for it elsewhere and have never seen the fruit.
Pyrus maius, L. Crab-apple.
All over the forest. Old trees are most numerous between
Earl's Path and Monk Wood. The " American Blight" aphis
(Schizoneura lanigara) has invaded our crab trees and seems to be
spreading.
Both forms occur, var. acerba with drooping fruit, and var.
mitis with fruit erect; but I have not noticed which is the more
plentiful.
Pyrus torminalis, Ehrh. Wild Service.
Not very common. I only know two or three dozen instances
at present. Probably the largest is a tree growing about one or
two hundred yards north-west of the great oak near Connaught
Water. It measures five feet three inches in girth and thirty feet
or more in height—a very fair size for this species. There are a
few pollards in the same district and one in Lord's Bushes, as
well as one in the thicket south of Manor Road, Loughton, and
some more to the north of Earl's Path. There are also from
ten to twenty saplings in Lord's Bushes, one of them having
reached the fruiting age. On Warren Hill, Loughton, is a tree
which sends up hundreds of suckers from its roots, but, there
being no cover for them, all get destroyed.